Graphic Novel Honors Miami Street Artist Who Died By Police Taser

An excerpt from "Isra & Lito," a new graphic novel based on the life of street artist Israel Hernandez.

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

You've been warned.This is not a common story. This is a story that begins at night.Many children are afraid of the night becausethey think that when it is all dark, monsters and ghosts appear.But that is not true.The night is the night and nothing else.The night is just the other side of the day.

That’s a pretty somber start to something that looks like a children’s picture book. But the real-life story that “Isra & Lito” is based upon has haunted its author for over three years now.

“This story has stayed in my heart for a long time, ever since I first heard about it,” says filmmaker Stan Jakubowicz.

His 2014 documentary “Tasered: The Israel Hernandez Story,” chronicles the life and controversial death of Hernandez. The 18-year-old street artist – known as Reefa -- was fatally tasered in the summer of 2013 by Miami Beach police after he tagged a vacant storefront.

The death was subsequently ruled an accident and no charges were brought against the officers involved. But the case sparked an on-going national debate over whether tasers are too deadly to be considered a “non-lethal” alternative to firearms.

Jakobowicz says he longed to tell the story in a different way than an investigative documentary, opting for a form that went “to the heart.”

The result is "Isra & Lito," conceived as the first of a series of books that take controversial real-life events and deconstruct them so children can understand them better. Jakubowicz teamed up with graphic artist Jefferson Quintana, newly arrived in the United States from Venezuela.

Quintana says he was taken aback when he first heard about Hernandez’s death.

“I come from a very violent place. So I was a little shocked,” says Quintana.

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On Thursday, prosecutors did not charge the Miami Beach police officer for the Taser death of graffiti writer Israel Hernandez Llach.

The investigation determined that the death was “accidental” because Taser stun guns “are not likely” to cause cardiac death, according to the State Attorney Office’s report.

On Aug. 6, 2013, police caught the teenage graffiti artist known as "Reefa" tagging the wall of an abandoned McDonald’s. This led to a chase, and when Hernandez-Llach was cornered, Officer Jorge Mercado shocked him in the chest.

About 75 people gathered in downtown Miami Thursday evening to protest and stand in solidarity against the killing of Michael Brown. The black teenager was shot and killed Saturday by a police officer in Ferguson, Missouri.

A group called the Dream Defenders and other activists marched a few blocks to the James Lawrence King Federal Justice Building, chanting lines like "hands up, don't shoot."

The Miami protesters empathized with Ferguson residents, having just passed the first anniversary of the death of Israel "Reefa" Hernandez's death at the hands of police.

Friends of Israel "Reefa" Hernandez held a news conference in response to his autopsy report released last week, seven months after his death. The teen died in August after being shot with a stun gun by Miami Beach police when he was caught defacing an abandoned building. The autopsy report says Hernandez's death was "accidental through electrical discharge." Now, the State Attorney's office must finish investigating before they can decide whether or not to press charges in the death.

Governor Rick Scott kicks off the legislative session with a State of the State address touting tax cuts and job creation. The state legislature starts by advancing a bill legalizing a form of medical marijuana and passing tougher sex predator laws.

A medical report on the death of Israel Hernandez, the teen who was tasered by Miami Beach police, finds that he died of a "sudden cardiac death." Shortly before the report's release, the police chief resigns.

Israel Hernández-Llach was an 18-year-old award-winning artist when he was chased by Miami Beach police officers and tasered for tagging a shuttered McDonald’s. He died soon after the electric probes delivered tens of thousands of volts into his chest.

The taser, a supposedly non-lethal tool of the police, has caused over 500 deaths since 2001 across the United States, according to Amnesty International. Hernandez’s tools of choice: paints, pens, cameras, and objects he found.